Surviving And Thriving:Can He Really?
by ZeroSanity666
Summary: Stranded on a resourceful but dangerous land, the captain must find a way to survive and, if possible, thrive in this land of marvelous sights and various inhabitants.


A Minecraft fanfic by Zerosanity666

I do not own Minecraft, the zombies, the creepers and the skelies

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I could hear the waves. They were calm, watering the sand's edge.

So calm, yet too calm for it to be good. I tried to move. My whole body was numb, tired from my struggle to survive the storm's outrage. Suddenly, I remembered what had happened. I got up, which took much more effort than I thought it would. I looked around, dazzled by the sun's brightness.

I was in a beach. I looked behind me, in the open sea, and I could not see any trace of land in the horizon. In front of me, beyond the beach, was a forest, unfolding as far as the eye could see.

My ship… what had happened to my ship and my crew? Probably lost forever in the endless blue. I could have mourned for them, but other actions had priority, as my survival was essential. Someone had to return to civilization and inform the families of my men. I had to survive, no matter what.

I decided to build a hut to spend the night. I had no idea what creatures that forest was hiding, and I certainly didn't want to end up inside a stomach. I looked around, and found a young tree, surrounded by a lot bigger ones. I found that I could easily cut it with my hands. Then, I went to what seemed the older and bigger tree of the batch. I pried out a piece of its bark, putting quite a lot of effort to it, even though the tree was ancient and withering. By high noon, I had assembled a wooden axe, but I knew that it wouldn't last for long. After taking a break, I started chopping trees. I was careful enough not to get myself buried under a trunk, and managed to collect enough wood for a small hovel. I also gathered some leaves to make a bed. I was applying a door, when I noticed the sun, which was setting behind the ocean. I stood back and admired my creation. It wasn't anything grand, but it was a place to spend the night.

Then, it happened. The sun had disappeared and the moon shone in the night sky, when I heard sounds. Something was making scratching sounds, and they were continuously getting louder, as if that something was approaching. Tired and a little afraid, I hid inside my hut, waiting to see what would happen. And what I saw then still haunts me. Some meters away from my shack, a human hand emerged from the dirt. It seemed to survey its surroundings, and found them appropriate. After finding a firm handle on the dirt, it helped the rest of itself out. It was then when I really felt chill going down my spine. This creature was not human, at least no more. It had no hair remaining, and it was covered in dried blood. It was full of cuts and bruises and wounds, all toned by the rips on its clothing. Its eyes were lifeless, unfeeling. Its face, senseless. It stood there, smelling the wind. It looked up, at the moon, and started walking aimlessly. I realized that it probably had its tongue cut in half, which allowed it to utter growls no living human had ever made. I had heard stories of the undead many times in my life, but as far as I know, no undead ever set foot on my ship.

Even though it had left my sight, I could hear it strolling without a reason, letting out grotesque sounds. I couldn't know if it had seen me, or if it would be hostile to me, but I knew I had an axe that, however damaged, could chop some more.

The night passed slowly, and at some point I even managed to sleep for a while, having reached the conclusion, that it could either not see me or reach me. I woke up a little while later and I could still hear it outside, writhing and moaning. I was getting prepared for a fight, when I saw a change in its behavior. It was trying to dig its way back in the dirt, but for some reason the soil seemed much harder to penetrate. I was wondering what made it change its mind and return to the earth, when the first beams of sunlight filled the forest. As soon as light found the dead man's rotten flesh, it burst into flames. The abomination let out a howl, and sought the shade of a tree, but even there it could not hide from the cleansing light. With a final scream, it fell on the ground, slowly, but extraordinarily, turning to ash.

Thus, I learned that the rumors about the undead were, at least partially, true. Being nocturnal creatures, they died when the sun came up, only to be reborn at night.

The yellow orb was now clear in the cloudless skies and I put my mind at ease, knowing that I would not encounter any undead. I got out and took a deep breath, relieving myself from the reek of death.

First thing, I needed something to eat. I found some chickens that provided me with eggs, and helped myself with some of the wild mushrooms. Then, I was ready to explore this strange island. I picked a direction and walked forward, careful not to lose my way.

I found no signs of civilization, and that seemed strange to me. For there could be no undeath without death and thus without life. That could mean many things. There could have been a village in which somehow everyone got slaughtered and zombified; or the zombie I encountered was just a stranded man like me; or I simply hadn't found the village yet.

In any case, I had to find rations for the upcoming days. So I made a box out of wood, and stored eggs, mushrooms, chicken meat and a certain kind of weed which I knew that could be eaten.

I also moved my hut next to a cliff and widened it, so that I had enough space to move around. The cliff side was rocky, so I decided to make it a bit more suitable. From wood, I created a pick, which was much easier to make then the axe, since I made a bench to craft on.

So when the night came, I knew that I wouldn't get to sleep, so I dug the cliff's side a bit. As my pick hammered at the stone wall, I came across a black material. I suddenly realized that I was lucky enough to hit a coal vein.

I tied some coal on a stick using some wool I had gotten from the sheep, and after a while succeeded in lighting a fire.

I realized then that I had gotten quite deep inside the cliff. When I turned my head to see how far my shack was, I realized my mistake. I hadn't found coal then and had left my house unlighted, the only illumination being received from the moon. A zombie had already made it half way inside my territory, unearthing from the depths of the earth. It had spotted me and, when fully out, started towards me with a slow pace. This one had an eye missing, but the other eye was giving me a soulless stare. I steadied my axe, ready to cleave. It kept coming anyway, feeling no fear, no regret, no adrenaline, unlike me. When it came into hitting range, I swung my axe at his face. It opened in half. But the dead man was still standing, barely affected, as I staggered from the force of the recoil. I served another swing, opening his belly, spilling infected blood all over. It now seemed a bit annoyed, but it was still walking. I had no energy left inside me to perform another hit, so I panicked.

With what power I had left, I went for the door, hoping to escape, but there was no need. The sun was coming up and the rays hit the undead man directly on his opened face. He was dead in no time, and not only did he evaporate, but his spilled blood did so too.

After waiting for a while, feeding on my rations, I corrected my mistake. My house was now full of torches.

Out of curiosity, I climbed the cliff to get a better view of my surroundings. What I saw from up there was not expected. The forest did end at some point, but from there a dessert unfolded, all the way in the horizon. To the left were mountains, their peaks covered in snow. To the right, the forest became a jungle. I simultaneously felt admiration and sheer terror for the island's, if it was an island, variety. How far away from civilization was I? But then, inside the jungle, I could make out a village. I decided that the next day I would go and check it. I was wondering whether the inhabitants would be friendly or hostile as I turned back, and I was suddenly face to face with an orange head, its mouth shaped in a howl of terror, its eyes empty. I thought I would be a goner then, when I realized the truth.

I had stumbled upon a batch of pumpkins. They had carved faces on them, possibly to scare away any who could climb this cliff. I harvested them, having some plans for them.

Night was coming by again, and I had decorated the exterior of my house with pumpkin lanterns, which would not only shed light around the house, but also scare or discourage a more sentient intruder.

As the outside world was filled with darkness, I continued my way into the cliff's depths, careful not to leave any place unlighted. By my estimations I had reached the center of the mountain. I then widened the corridor, claiming a lot of empty space.

I checked my box, and found that I was running low on coal. I was planning to dig down, hoping to find more, but I couldn't do that without light. I argued with myself over the matter, but eventually, I had an idea.

That night I slept, and when I woke up next morning I was fresh and full of energy.

I was ready to open the door to the outside world, when I saw it through the little window on it. I backed off a few steps, mortified. Outside of my house stood a green creature of the likes I had never seen before. It had four legs and no hands. Its face was somewhat human; it looked as if it was screaming wildly, but no sound came out but a very low hiss. It stood there, as tall as I was, not making a sound, expecting me to come out and play. I did not. Being sure that it will not attempt to breach my house, I took my time to craft a sword. When I was ready, I opened the door. It walked in, with sickening sounds from the inept use of its four legs. I slashed with my crude stone weapon, and it dodged it by hopping back. I lifted my sword for another swing, but it was too late. It was a breath away when it's hissing got louder. In two seconds, it exploded. I got pushed inside the tunnel, and my hut was destroyed. Planks flew outwards and my box broke, resulting in a rain of eggs, meat, mushrooms, and boulders.

I had surely sprained my leg, and got many cuts and bruises. What a creature. It would sacrifice its own life just to kill me, creeping around day and night, searching for pray.

I painfully made my way to the blown rations, gathered what remained edible, and sealed the cave from the inside with what I could find. I had to survive, and my leg had to get better. I would stay inside for some time, to let it heal.

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Author's note:

If this story has the slightest of successes, it will continue. Tell me what you think!


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